Cláudio Coutinho

Cláudio Pêcego de Moraes Coutinho ( born January 5, 1939 in Dom Pedrito, † 27 November 1981 in Rio de Janeiro) was a Brazilian football coach, who coached the Brazilian national football team 1977-1980. He died in a diving accident.

Life

Military career

Coutinho was born in 1939 in the small village of Dom Pedrito area of Rio Grande do Sul on the Brazilian border with Uruguay and moved to Rio de Janeiro with his parents at the age of four years.

He later attended the military school and reached the rank of captain of artillery. During his time in the army he also earned a degree in sports science. In 1968 he represented the military school at a World Congress that was held in the United States. There he met the American Professor Kenneth H. Cooper, know the inventor of the Cooper test. This invited him to the NASA Human Stress Laboratory.

Sporting career

1970 Coutinho was appointed to the coaching staff of the Brazilian squad for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. He was a fitness coach of the team and exhibited there in front of the Cooper test. After the tournament, he worked as a consultant for the Peruvian national team and was the technical coordinator for Brazil's Selecao at the 1974 World Cup in Germany. He then worked for the French Clup Olympique de Marseille and Brazil's Olympic team who landed in Montreal in 1976 to fourth place. In 1976 he was also head coach of Flamengo.

His good reputation helped him to get the job of the head coach of the Seleção. He thus entered the successor Osvaldo Brandãos. In the 1978 World Cup Brazil remained unbeaten. Due to a goal difference that was mainly due to the scandal match Argentina against Peru ( 6-0 ), Brazil reached only the match for third place, which they won against Italy 2-1. In 1979, he joined with Brazil in the Copa América in 1979 and made ​​it to the semi-finals. After the tournament, he took over in 1981 as coach of the Los Angeles Aztecs. Telê Santana had replaced him as head coach of the Seleção.

Death

After the 1981 season, the experienced divers spent his vacation home in Rio de Janeiro. He emerged near the islands Cagarras the beach of Ipanema, where he was killed.

Achievements

• Third in the 1978 World Cup